Rakuten invests in Altiostar as part of virtualized network drive

February 12, 2019

Rakuten, which will be launching its telecom operations in Japan, announced a strategic investment in Altiostar Networks, a US-based mobile technology company.
Tewksbury, MA-based Altiostar will utilize the funding to expand its virtual Radio Access Network solutions for 4G and 5G deployment of telecoms customers. Financial details were not disclosed.

Rakuten is set to become the first global telecom operator to deploy a fully virtualized mobile network in Japan in October 2019, including radio access.

Rakuten in November 2018 announced its tie-up with telecom company KDDI in order to enter the mobile phone services business, challenging bigger rivals NTT Docomo and SoftBank Group. KDDI will give Rakuten access to its nationwide roaming services, while Rakuten will provide KDDI its expertise in mobile payments.

The investment in Altiostar demonstrates Rakuten’s commitment to taking a leadership role in driving RAN virtualization. Rakuten is developing an open ecosystem by participating in crafting solutions through engagement with industry leaders like Intel and Qualcomm, as well as ODMs and innovative Virtual RAN companies like Altiostar.

Open RAN architecture and virtualization are key to building software-centric networks that can scale and adapt to meet an explosion of devices and applications driving service velocity and profits,” said Ashraf Dahod, CEO of Altiostar Networks.